


Siren

by theisraelproject107



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AkuRokuRiSo Month, M/M, Siren prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:01:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4848578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theisraelproject107/pseuds/theisraelproject107
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Axel's ship is wrecked off the coast of a tiny island, he wakes in darkness, to become the prisoner of a monster. But is Roxas the demonic being that Axel suspects, or is he something more?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Siren Pt 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Siren  
> Main pairing: AkuRoku  
> Rating: M  
> Word count: 6,973  
> AO3 collection: http://archiveofourown.org/collections/AkuRokuRiSo_Month  
> Provided By: cameoamalthea (tumblr)

With the distant crashing of turbulent waves resonating in his head, Axel’s eyes cracked slowly open. The blackness that greeted him might have put him in doubt as to whether he had regained consciousness, were it not for the fact that he was frozen stiff, little flecks of sea spray hitting his upturned face like stinging fragments of glass, and the horrendous pounding that his heartbeat set pulsing through every inch of him.

A groan more like a whisper clawed its way from his throat, his limbs heavy and rigid with the cold, which reached right through him, a special agony of its own. He tried to move, but all this did was awaken pain that had been lying dormant, pulling a small, weak cry from his lips.

Blinking through the perpetual mist of spray, with blossoming fear and apprehension, he tried to ascertain where he was, but the gloom made this next to impossible. He was becoming gradually aware that the ground beneath him was – sharp in places, uncomfortably hard… _rocky._ He was somewhere dark and stone-strewn, with the ocean booming not far away. But how had he come to be here? And where – was the ship? The rest of the men? His memory was foggy, slow to return; he couldn’t grasp the reasoning behind his being in this unfamiliar place. But it didn’t bode well – he knew that much, at least.

Swallowing weakly, he parted his lips, gathered what breath he could, and attempted to call out: “Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?” He heard a scrabbling sound, and with a prickle of hope, rasped, “Who is that? I’m here! I am –”

He was silenced by a hand clamping sharply over his mouth. He recoiled at the cold of its touch, an alien roughness scratching at his skin.  When a monstrous visage thrust itself into his line of vision a moment later, his yell of fearful surprise was cut short by the claws of the creature digging warningly into the flesh of his cheeks. In the darkness, all he could see was a shine of eyes, the misshapen silhouette of a head, and the glint of sharp teeth as the being parted its lips to hiss, _“Hsst!”_ Axel gave a series of panicked noises, the creature pressing its face closer to his own, this time raising a finger to its lips and again whispering, more fiercely, _“Hssst!”_

It occurred to Axel, with a burst of horrified wonder, that the monster was trying to communicate with him – was commanding his silence. He went still, bewildered and afraid. Why would such a creature be encouraging his cooperation like this, instead of just killing him? What was nearby that might hear him, and why did it not want him heard?

As if in answer to these questions, he heard the echo of scraping steps a short distance away, and stiffened. Eyes wide in the gloom, he stared up at the creature’s face, barely visible in the negligent light. What little illumination that allowed him to see as much as he did had to be the faintest reflection of moonlight, wherever it was that it was entering from. But where _was_ he? What was happening?

Hunched over his supine form, the creature tensed at the sound of the steps, staring down at him with the finger still pressed insistently over its lips, not that Axel could have done more than continue grunting with its other hand still hard over his mouth.

Then, making both of them flinch, a voice called through the darkness: “Hellooooo?”

It was a strange, grating sound, thoroughly inhuman, and – _predatory_. Axel shivered, the cold having nothing to do with it. When the creature above him didn’t move or respond, their mutual silence continuing, the voice came again, but this time… oh, this time, it was like an angel had descended from the heavens.

 _“Hello?”_ That warm, loving word echoed to him, and Axel’s soul seemed to soar. His heart melted, his fears vanishing in an instant, a wonderful, shining emotion welling up from deep within. Oh, this feeling – this magnificent, euphoric sense of being adored, of knowing that the warmest, most lovely place in all of existence lay in the arms of whomsoever was the possessor of that voice. He yearned to answer, to remove this monster’s hand from his face and go to the embrace of that glorious, pure-hearted, divine being.

He reached up with determined hands to try and pry the creature off of him. Noticing the shift in him, the monster swiftly turned its head and called, “It’s me!”

And, all at once, the feeling was gone, dissolved, as the owner of the other voice reverted to its former growling timbre. “Oh. Roxas? What are you doing?”

Axel was back to shuddering, overcome with revulsion at what he had just experienced. The creature above him lowered itself to his ear, and as Axel prepared to start a panicked struggle, it whispered to him, “She will kill you if she finds you here. For your own sake, mortal, stay in place and remain _silent.”_

Then, after the briefest of pauses to make sure he had heard it, the monster… released him. It rose to its feet and left him lying there, Axel able to hear the two beings conversing several moments later.

“Hello, Larxene.”

In a state of shock, Axel remained where he was, listening to them speak, voices thin and rough.

“Roxas, what were you doing in there?” That – that was the voice of the one that had called to him. Axel recognised it easily. Had it truly also been the same creature that had sounded so angelic? How could that possibly be?

“I thought I heard something in the cave,” the one that had silenced him – Roxas, was it called? – said dismissively. “But it was nothing but debris drifting along the inlet.”

“Hnnn.”

Axel experienced a moment of the most pure terror he had ever known, listening to the monster consider the lie.

Then, there came a disgruntled, “Very well. I was hoping it was one of the missing crewmembers. I’m sure I saw one with bright red hair before their ship hit the rocks – I want to know what his flesh tastes like. Does the red make it different? I want to _know!”_ The creature snarled this last part, as though in a temper, impatient at the elusiveness of its quarry. Had Axel not been frozen by his fear, he might have moaned aloud.

“He will wash ashore – they always do,” the other monster told her calmly. “We will continue searching.”

“I want the red-haired one!”

“And so you shall have him!” Roxas snarled. “No one is interested in wresting the red-haired one from you, Larxene!”

“They had best not.” This came as almost a mutter. Then, their voices growing distant, the two monsters left Axel’s hiding place, and soon there was only the sound of the ocean again, the waves shattering against cliffs and rocks, which he was only now dimly starting to recall.

Yes, there had been – an island, a blot of land surrounded by sharp rocks and sheer cliffs, and they had been skirting around it. The weather was inclement, so they had been hoping for a place to weigh anchor and wait the night out, but upon seeing how dangerous the coast was, the captain had decided against it and they were going to leave. They had been _leaving…_ and then – something. Axel still couldn’t grasp quite what, but _something_ had happened, and now – now it seemed they had become shipwrecked.

Lifting his head, straining to peer around with eyes slightly more accustomed to the deep darkness, Axel was able to discern that he was in a cave of some sort. There was, as the monster who had found him had said, a narrow inlet running through it, choppy from the weather, sending up the spray that continued to soak his already thoroughly wet, chilled body. He ached in all places, especially his head, but now was not the time to indulge such grievances, for two very grave reasons.

Firstly, if the ship had smashed on the rocks surrounding the island, then Axel’s crewmates would likely be in dire trouble, those who had survived the initial sinking. How _he_ had managed to, he didn’t know – it was nothing short of a miracle. He must have somehow been snatched up by a current that brought him to the inlet and then ashore in this cave.

The second thing was the most frightening, however, and that was that they appeared to have been wrecked on an island which hosted _monsters._ Monsters which… which _ate human flesh._ That creature, the one called Larxene, had been so insistent upon ‘the red-haired one’, and that could only be Axel himself. His colouring was unusual no matter where he went, and he was definitely the only one aboard the ship with such an appearance. He was in no doubt that the monster had spoken of wanting to – to _taste his flesh._

His shuddering intensified. One thing Axel knew for certain, the _only_ thing he knew, was that he needed to escape. Now. Even if the one monster had been fooled, there was still another who knew he was here, and it could return at any moment. Why had it lied for him? Did it want to taste him for itself? Was it planning to eat him and did not want to share?

…He had to get away from here.

With a great mustering of what little strength he had, fuelled no doubt by the threat to his life, Axel ignored the stabbing pains of his flesh and forced his rigid limbs to move. He rolled with effort onto his stomach, pushing to his hands and knees, and, breathing laboured but only slightly light-headed, finally struggled to his feet. Though he swayed at first, and his steps were uneven, Axel found himself capable of walking.

He staggered first as far as he could away from the exit the monsters had left from. He ran out of ground entirely too soon, however, finding that this ‘cave’ was little more than a hollow in the cliff-side; he stood upon a rocky shelf that ran through it, staring down at water as black as pitch that lapped and lashed at the outcropping. The only way out from this side of the cave was to plunge into the sea, and that would kill him all too surely. He was in no condition to swim – and where would he even have swum to? He was trapped on the island for now, at least until he and some shipmates managed to lash a raft together and push away from this hellish place.

Reluctantly, Axel turned and went back, aiming now for the end of the cave the monsters had left by. Having no way of knowing when the first creature would come back, and having wasted a little time venturing to the other end of the cave, he had no luxury to hesitate. He paused at the entrance, peering owlishly into the gloom, but with most of the moon’s light blotted from view by thick, crowding clouds, he could only listen and look as best as he could before escaping into the dark.

With a persistent drizzle of rain scattering over the island, Axel found no reprieve from the cold as he squinted and forged his way through an overgrown forest, leaving the inlet behind and hoping that this would help place some distance between him and the creatures who would be scouring the shores for signs of bodies or survivors. Though it tore at his heart to not go searching for his crewmates straight away, he knew it was vital that he find somewhere safe to rest and recover before he attempted to navigate this unfamiliar island and its bloodthirsty inhabitants and have a hope of making it out alive.

His hands outstretched, feeling his way through the dense forestation and thick swathes of hanging vines, Axel moved blindly, hoping to encounter a shelter of sorts – a hollow tree, some thick foliage, _anything_ – in which he might be able to hunker down for the remainder of the night. Surely with dawn’s light he would have a better chance of making sense of all this… and perhaps such wicked creatures as those who had plans to devour him and his crew would not be able to stand the light. Surely such base beasts were able to only move about in the dead of night.

When the ground opened up beneath Axel, it was without a single sound that he dropped, tumbling down an embankment that in the darkness had been hidden. Like a rag doll, he crashed into the brush at the base of the hill, dazed and bloody. Though he did not lose consciousness, he was unable to rouse himself from his stunned state, the various blows to his body and head exacerbating that which the shipwreck had likely already caused. For a long time, he lay there, lacking the energy to stir himself, and incapable of collecting his wits enough even to agitate over his fate.

At some point, after an indeterminate passage of time, he heard the sounds of someone approaching, someone, or something, crunching through the undergrowth. The weather had eased somewhat by now, the rain having long turned the ground into thick, sticky mud, and so he heard their coming clearly through the fresh hush of the night. Eventually, whoever they were discovered him in his ravaged state, but Axel could only stare dumbly through half-lidded eyes, his chest rising and falling slowly as he lay sprawled in the mud, ensnared by the bushes. He couldn’t make out the features of the person who had come to him, but closed his eyes, just in case it did turn out to be a monster come to strip him to his bones. If he was going to die here, he didn’t want to see it coming, see the hunger in the face of his attacker.

When the agony of being eaten alive didn’t immediately occur, he wondered who it was; once he had closed his eyes, however, opening them back up again turned out to be too great a task. He was exhausted, and may have slept, though he was aware that someone had picked him up with unnaturally strong arms and was taking him somewhere.

When next Axel opened his eyes, he was on his side, arms bunched in front of his chest, cheek flat to the dirt. But – the dirt was dry. That was an improvement. Some of the bitter cold had left his skin, as well. When he shifted, he felt his fingers come into contact with – a blanket? He lifted his head slowly, looking down at himself. He had been covered while he slept, and, he belatedly realised, his clothes had been removed. His pulse quickened at this; what person had taken his _clothes?_ Who had found him? And where was he _now?_

Fortunately, there was a lantern burning nearby. He was not forced to endure the pitch black again. He glanced about, and realised that the walls around him were made of wood; not in the manner of a house with walls, but – trees, twisted together so tightly that they blocked out all sign of the elements and sight of the sky. They formed a lumpy-walled space into which perhaps five men could fit, though Axel was, at the moment, quite alone. He stared, first at his enclosure, then over at the lantern. It was of curious design, old fashioned, with one pane of its glass case missing. Fortunately, due to some thick sort of fabric covering what was evidently the entrance to this hidey-hole, there was no disturbance in the air to blow the flame out.

Carefully, feeling the aches of his body coming to life bit by bit, Axel moved to sit up. As soon as he shifted his left leg, however, he hissed with pain and stopped sharply. With building dread, he reached down and tugged the blanket back from his legs, eyes slipping shut with distress at the sight that greeted him. His ankle was in a terrible state, swollen to at least twice its size and deeply bruised. The swelling had travelled halfway up his calf, and any attempt to move it resulted in stabbing pain.

This was… a very bad situation. He must have injured himself in the tumble down the hill. He cursed himself for not having taken more care, then looked around again, helplessly now, wondering who on earth his saviour was. _Someone_ had found him out there, and brought him to this secluded place. That same someone had removed his cold, wet clothes and covered him with a blanket. Wherever they were now, they had left him a light to see by. Perhaps it was a member of the ship’s crew, still able to move around. In which case, it was almost impossible good fortune that had led Axel to him, even if he had ended up hurt for his troubles. He only hoped that this injury with his ankle wouldn’t slow down an attempt to escape the island. He wouldn’t be of much use until it had healed at least enough to stand on.

It wasn’t long before he heard someone approaching, whoever his rescuer was, no doubt; they must have only ventured out for a short while. Certainly with monsters roaming about, they couldn’t risk being outside for long. With hope in his heart, Axel sat up, holding the blanket close, eager to find out who of his fellow crewmembers had survived – but the being that pushed through the thick covering over the entrance was anything but.

The gasp caught in Axel’s throat as the monster stepped into the light. The fabric – which Axel now realised, after hearing it rustle and seeing it move, was part of a sail from a ship – dropped back into place, the creature pausing at the sight of him sitting up. Axel, for his part, was momentarily paralysed, unable to stop staring. The monster was more or less the size of a man, slender, and could perhaps have been mistaken for one if not for the feathers that lined its pointed ears and ran down its neck, or the scales that roughened its long hands, at the ends of which resided talon-like nails. Besides that, it appeared mostly human. The feathers provided a fluffiness of sorts across its shoulders, delving down its back before tapering off to descend down the line of its spine, which Axel noticed as it turned to ensure that the sail was completely blocking the opening it had come through, pushing parts of it into cracks in the tree, as though making sure that none of the light from the lantern could bleed out to the world beyond. A loose pair of cotton pants clothed its lower half, sitting low on its hips and ending mid-calf, secured by a clumsily-tied drawstring. The pants looked like they were made for someone at least a size wider, and were torn in places, and dirty.

When it turned to him, Axel was struck by the alien quality of its face. It was oddly beautiful at first glance, especially with the feathers that framed it, but its lips protruded slightly from its teeth, as though they were large, and its pupils were lightly narrowed, like a cat’s. It had spiky, unruly hair almost yellow in its blondness, and bright blue eyes. It stared at him a moment, just as he stared at it, then took a step towards him. Axel’s whole body flinched back, even as he called upon all his false bravado and commanded, “Stay back! Don’t come near me, beast!”

The creature’s eyes narrowed. It parted its lips to speak, and, heaven help him, Axel saw that its teeth were indeed larger than was normal, and pointed. He knew, all at once, that this was the same monster from the cave. “Keep your voice low,” it told him, “unless you would be someone’s dinner.”

“Am I not to be yours?” Axel bitterly shot back, well aware that he was highly unlikely to escape this time, considering the state of his ankle.

The creature eyed him oddly, then answered, “In fact, no. If I had been going to eat you, I would have done so when first I found you. But I do not eat the living.” It then bent low, and let tumble from one curled arm several pieces of fruit. They rolled through the dirt towards Axel. “I hadn’t time to fetch you fresh water, but there are juices aplenty in these to slake your thirst for now. Enjoy them at your leisure.” It spoke with – surprising sophistication. Although its voice was rough and throaty, it was not the grunting, slavering abomination he would have expected.

For a long minute, Axel stared down at the fruits. Then, he lifted his gaze to the monster, which was settling into a cross-legged position a short distance from the lantern, blocking the way out but making no move towards aggression as it simply folded its arms over its chest.

At long last, he warily asked, “What is this?”

The creature asked him, “What is what?”

Changing tack, Axel instead demanded, “Where are my clothes?”

“I took them,” the monster told him, “and threw them into the ocean. They were scented with your blood, which you had been tracking through the forest. Any of the others could have easily found you, just as I did. You are lucky,” it added grimly, “that it was me. You are lucky that I was already searching for you. I told you to stay where you were.”

Angrily, voice rising, Axel retorted, “You would expect me to remain in place with _monsters_ roaming about?” He was stopped there by a glare from the creature, and a return of its finger to its lips – the same gesture from the cave.

“You don’t want my cousins to find you, mortal,” it quietly warned. “They would pull you to pieces and feast upon your blood.” Axel’s mouth snapped shut so hard he felt his teeth click together. “I had to work hard to get to you before anyone else,” it continued, its gaze fixed unnervingly upon him, “and would appreciate that you not undercut that effort through being too _noisy.”_

Sullenly, Axel looked away, hunching his shoulders. “How can I know you won’t do the same? Perhaps you’re simply keeping me for later.”

It scowled. “I am the one that saved you from the waves.” Axel blinked with surprise, eyes darting back to the creature, as it continued, “I am the one who kept Larxene from you in the cave. I am the one who tracked your scent through the forest, fetched you from the bushes, and brought you to safety. I have given you food, given you firelight, since you wretched humans crave it so – yet even now, you suspect me of treachery?”

“You’re a monster,” Axel defiantly declared, though he trembled as he did so.

“I am what the gods made me,” it returned, with dignity, “and I am not a monster. I am Roxas.”

“Well, you _look_ like a monster,” Axel stubbornly shot back, “and you _sound_ like a monster.” This entire time, its grating voice had been teasing his nerves tighter and tighter. Even when it spoke softly, the harshness of it made his spine tingle.

When next it opened its mouth, however, everything changed. 

Axel felt his spirit _soar_ as it gently asked, _“Are you sure about that?”_ That voice – it was honeyed, and calm, and so soothing it was like being enveloped in warm water. _“I want only to aid you, mortal,”_ it went on, and Axel found himself nodding dreamily, awash in pleasant feelings. _“I have saved you. I have cared for you. Are you not grateful?”_

“I am,” Axel replied, almost a groan in his voice in his desperation to convey his sudden thankfulness. It smiled at him, but its teeth didn’t seem so worrying anymore. Axel could hardly recall why he had been so suspicious of it in the first place. Of _Roxas._ Not an it, but a _him._ A heavenly him, celestial being, Axel feeling a deep devotion blossom in his chest for him. He went to move towards Roxas, filled with the desire to be near him, to touch him, but the feathered being forestalled him by shifting first, crawling over and taking Axel by the shoulders, easing him carefully to the ground.

 _“Don’t move,”_ Roxas urged him sweetly, _“or you’ll hurt your leg further. It needs rest. You need rest. And when you are hungry, you must eat, to keep your strength up.”_ As Axel again nodded, Roxas asked, _“What is your name, mortal?”_

“Axel,” he distractedly replied, conscious of its hands upon him, smoothing the blanket over his bare body.

 _“Axel,”_ the being echoed, in a caressing murmur. Then, into his ear, it rasped, “If I wanted to eat you, I wouldn’t need to worry about you getting away. I could keep you a slave all your life, however long that might be, and you would _thank_ me, as I took the first bite of your living flesh, for the time we spent together.”

As Axel turned cold, the spell broken, it pulled away. It returned to its previous position as the huddled man began, all over again, to shudder. “H-how did you do that?” he asked at length, between clenched teeth. His skin crawled with the memory of how glad he’d been to have the creature touching him.

“I am a Siren,” Roxas replied, and Axel thought, for a moment, that he detected a note of weariness in its voice. “Our voices give us ultimate power over mortal men. We called you to our rocky shores, and even now my cousins feast upon your fallen comrades. You were the only one I could rescue. You are, very likely, the only one left.”

Axel’s eyes squeezed shut at such devastating words, but didn’t question the verity of them. He had heard the monster Larxene talking of eating his flesh – it came as little surprise to learn that that was the fate of his comrades. But even so, it was with flashing eyes and a quavering voice that he desperately declared, “Some of them may live! We are not so easily killed!”

It was almost with sadness that Roxas regarded him now, replying, “But, you are.”

And Axel looked at the sail covering the entrance, and the lantern with its missing pane that lit this space, and knew in his heart that theirs was far from the first ship to have washed onto these shores. He buried his head under the blanket, curled himself into a ball, and, for a while, hid from the terrible island with all the effectiveness of a child fleeing a nightmare.

.o.O.o.

After an interminable night, morning broke, Axel aware of it as the sound of birdsong slowly filled the air. The creature, Roxas, peered carefully through a gap it made in the sail covering the tree-room’s entrance.

“Dawn is here,” it murmured. Turning to Axel, who watched from a hole in his blanket, it said, “I must depart. My cousins will question if I am absent too long. But I will return, Axel, and bring more supplies with me when I do.”

Axel swallowed, biting back a shudder at the sound of his name being spoken by such a coarse voice. He had to ask, “Why are you doing this? Why protect me at all?”

The creature eyed him, and for a long moment didn’t answer. Eventually, it said, “You still live. I would not see you murdered when you have survived thus far.” Bewildered, Axel shook his head, uncomprehending of such a reply. Had these creatures not lured the ship to their shores in the first place? “I cannot linger,” Roxas told him. “Remain in place, and make sure this time that you do. You are not safe on this island.”

As it prepared to leave, Axel pushed himself up, the blanket sliding to his waist, demanding, with some alarm, “For how long? How long do you intend to keep me here?”

Roxas paused, sent him a long look, its gaze wavering, for a moment, down to his bare chest. Then it said, “You are here only until your leg is healed. Then I will secure your passage off this island by a vessel of some sort. I promise you this… Axel.”

Again, his name, and it seemed as though the monster savoured saying it. Then, before he could think to argue or question it further, Roxas pushed through the sail, and was gone. Axel listened to its footsteps grow gradually quieter, before only the sounds of the forest itself were left.

He stared at the covered entrance, then over at the lantern, which continued to burn with a low flame. Perhaps this was his chance for fleeing; he could use the lantern to set fire to this shelter, then while the beasts were distracted he might make his way to the shore and look for survivors. With anyone who might be left – he refused to consider the possibility that he was the last – they could make their escape from this wretched place.

But… his leg. He tugged back the blanket, sitting wincingly, and gingerly ran his fingers along the swelling. It was thicker even than it had been during the night, with a ring of purple around the ankle, descending down the outer edge of his foot. Thoughts of escape would do him no good in this condition. The creature had been correct enough about his staying until the injury had healed. With a sigh, he cast his gaze around the small space before stopping at the fruit. During the night, he had not touched the pieces, untrusting of the monster which had brought them. But now he found himself with a hunger that gnawed at his insides, and no immediate way of fending for himself. If he did not eat what the creature brought, then he would not eat.

But… even so…

He turned away with a pained expression. What if they were toxic? Perhaps the monster was squeamish about killing its own meat, and plotted to allow him to do it to himself. He couldn’t trust it. Instead, he turned over onto his side, gathering the blanket close again, and tried to ignore the persistent pangs in his stomach. He would not march obediently to his death.

The hours passed with agonising slowness. Every stray noise outside had Axel on edge, listening as hard as he could for signs that it was one of the monsters approaching. At some point, the fuel in the lantern ran dry, and the flame went from guttering, to a pinprick, to gone. The gloom was almost welcome; it was easier to close his eyes and try to forget where he was with darkness around him.

He had been shallowly dozing when a sharp _crack_ flung his eyes open, just one in a series of approaching sounds – definitely footsteps. Something was coming. He sat up and snatched up the cold lantern, shifting back until his spine was against rough tree bark, gaze fixed on the entrance. If anything came through that sail that wasn’t Roxas – and even if it was Roxas, depending on how the creature approached – he had only the feeble weapon of the lantern with which to save himself. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that, his heart thundering with almost deafening demand.

The steps grew nearer, until they were right outside, at which point they stopped – and nothing happened. Axel’s breaths came quickly, eyes wide in the darkness, his grip on the lantern tightening. Then the sail shifted, and one of the creatures came through, Axel instinctively winding back and hurling the lantern towards its head with a grunt. Silhouetted briefly by the dying sunlight of the world beyond, the figure twisted to avoid the projectile, the lantern slamming against the sail and dropping to the ground, where, with a high tinkle, one of its panes broke into pieces.

There was a stunned moment into which Axel panted and the creature stood stock still, then a loud rustle as the sail was pinned back into place, darkness engulfing them once again. “It is I!” Roxas announced with quiet anger. “Or was it me you were trying to hit?”

There was a heavy sound as something was dropped to the ground, then the monster crouched and began carefully sweeping the pieces of glass into its hands. Over at the back of the alcove, Axel had a hand pressed to his chest, trying to calm the baleful pounding therein. Roxas, meanwhile, disposed of the broken shards outside of the alcove, set the lantern upright again, filled its fuel canister from a small can, and with the striking of a match, lit the wick. Illumination burst into being, through which the creature glared at Axel as it positioned the lantern a safe distance from the entrance.

“I would refrain from doing that again,” it warned in its scraping voice, “as this is one of the only lanterns on the island. It is not easy to salvage functional items from wrecks, you know.” Axel didn’t respond, his head tilted back now as he struggled to control his exaggerated breaths. That… had frightened him badly. He felt that if he were only able to move around on his own, it would not be so dreadful, but as things were he felt entirely too vulnerable. He had panicked, and that panic was still coursing through his veins.

He heard a noise, and opened his eyes, in time to see the creature bobbing down right in front of him. His voice caught in his throat as Roxas frowned at his pale, perspiring face. Noticing his sudden fear at its proximity, the monster’s expression flickered with some unnameable emotion, before it lovingly said, _“Peace, Axel.”_

Serenity descended over him all at once, starting at his head and sweeping down through his body. He relaxed, and though he continued to breathe hard, his reactions slower to settle, he managed to smile through it. Roxas smiled back, placing a hand against his cheek. Axel’s eyes fluttered shut, his face turning into the touch, and they stayed like this until his pulse had returned to normal and the fearful sweat dried upon his skin.

Slowly, Roxas withdrew, returning to the opposite side of the sanctuary and settling into his usual cross-legged position. Over the course of several minutes, Axel came back to himself, the power of the Siren’s voice fading gradually. Once it was gone, however, he didn’t find the fear returning. Roxas had achieved what he had set out to do: he had calmed Axel down. He could still feel against his skin where the creature had touched him, its hand flush against his cheek, but… it hadn’t been such a bad sensation. It had been gentle. That gentleness was… confusing.

While Axel collected his wits, Roxas busied himself with a sack he had brought with him, filled with lumpy items he began pulling out one by one. Among them, Axel spied a bundle that looked to be clothing. As Roxas carefully spread the items out, Axel, his curiosity getting the better of him, leaned forward to inspect the arrivals. As suspected, one thing the creature had brought was trousers and a shirt, tied together by a belt. Axel felt a burst of gratitude – being naked increased his feelings of defencelessness tenfold. Clothing would be a relief… and he would simply concentrate on not thinking about where it was from, or to whom it had once belonged.  Alongside that, there was a pillow, a second blanket, a bottle, and several more pieces of fruit. The bottle held fresh water, which, after giving a cautious sniff and a tentative taste, Axel drank from.

Noticing that the fruit he had brought was unnecessary, since Axel had not yet touched what he had been given last night, Roxas inquired, “Are you not hungry? You should eat to keep your strength up. Once you leave the island, times will be hard.”

Axel regarded him cagily. “Well… I wasn’t sure if – if it was exactly to my tastes.” He was reluctant to inform the creature that he did not trust it. If he just came out and said it, what would prevent the monster from forcing him to eat with its hypnotic power?

Roxas thought about this. “I could try to find something else. There might be supplies from the wreckage of your ship that have not been damaged. But if you do not eat the fruit for now, you will weaken. The search could take me several days.”

Finding himself put in a suddenly difficult position, Axel stared at the creature, then down at the fruit. He couldn’t deny that he was famished by now. And reluctant though he was… he would rather take a bite of poisoned fruit of his own accord, than to be forced into it in a dream-like haze.

With a sigh, he reached for the nearest piece. They were unlike anything he had seen before, native to the island, perhaps, sky-blue orbs with slightly spiked skin. He held the fruit in his hand, working up his nerve for the first bite. Glancing at the creature, finding that its eyes were intently upon him, Axel resignedly lifted it to his lips, hesitated just once… then nibbled at it. He blinked as a hit of salt filled his mouth – followed swiftly by a curious sweetness. He took another bite, chewing carefully, and found that, as Roxas had told him, it was juicy. The salt was in the skin , the sweetness in the juice, and somehow – somehow it created a wonderful flavour. Before he knew what he was doing, Axel had half-devoured the first piece of fruit, his mind already reaching for the next, his hunger and tongue demanding more of such tasty sustenance.

When he glanced up at Roxas, he stopped abruptly. The creature was watching him closely, its eyes on his mouth as he ate. Realising that he had noticed, it met his gaze quickly. Gulping down his mouthful of salty-sweet flesh, Axel cleared his throat and offered the fruit over to his saviour-cum-captor. “Would you – like a bite?”

Roxas appeared surprised, then shook its feathered head. “No. I… am not able to take nutrition from such a thing, and its flavour is strange to me.”

Axel considered this uneasily. “Is that because you eat – people?”

The creature was silent for a moment. “I do not eat the living,” it answered, and Axel was not comforted. This meant that it ate the dead. Axel’s shipmates…

His appetite rapidly dwindled. Setting down the half-eaten fruit, Axel lowered his gaze to the ground. “…My crew… have any of the others survived?”

Roxas slowly shook its head. “I searched. I swear to you that I did. But… my cousins got to them first, if any of them survived the water.”

Axel clasped his face in his hand, despair forming around his heart. They had been good men – too good for a fate such as this. After a while, he asked mournfully, “Why me? Why only me? Why did I live when the others did not?” Lifting his head, he demanded, with a spark of anguished rage, “Why!? Why did you save me?”

Roxas averted his eyes. “I saw you in the waves, and… I knew that Larxene had expressed an interest in you, we saw from the shore, using the spyglass we salvaged from another ship. She wanted to know your flavour, and I…” The creature hesitated. “I did not want you to fall to her.”

Axel stared, eyes wide. “Then – even before the ship ran aground, you had decided to rescue me?” Still not looking at him, Roxas nodded. This was – not an answer that pleased Axel. “But then, why not the others? Why not anyone else?”

“I didn’t have the time,” Roxas answered softly. “Larxene was so intent on you… I knew I had to find you first. The second your ship hit the rocks, I plunged into the ocean to find you. Had I not, you would not be here now.”

“The others deserved saving _too,”_ Axel desperately insisted, unable to feel thankful just now for having been snatched from his grim fate. “There were better men than I aboard that ship who deserved their lives. If nothing else, they deserved more than to end up as the meals of _monsters!”_

Now, Roxas did meet his gaze, and Axel thought he saw a sorrowful quality to the creature’s expression. “…I understand,” was all it said, then, without another word, it gathered the empty sack and rose to its feet. “I must depart again,” it told him. “If I remain away, my cousins may grow suspicious. Larxene still hunts for you, certain you were not simply washed away in the ocean. I would not…” Its voice faltered. “I would not have her find you,” it finished in a mutter, looking away. “I will return. Please… do not attempt to leave while I am gone.”

With that, Roxas passed back  through the sail before Axel could say anything, and, entirely too quickly, he was on his own again. He looked around at the items scattered through the alcove, which had been so empty before Roxas had come.

With nothing else to do, he set himself with a heavy heart to the task of slowly getting dressed and continuing to eat, the monster’s unusual expressions playing through his mind.

 


	2. Siren Pt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Siren  
> Main pairing: AkuRoku  
> Rating: M  
> Word count: 5,068  
> AO3 collection: http://archiveofourown.org/collections/AkuRokuRiSo_Month  
> Provided By: cameoamalthea (tumblr)

Roxas didn’t return to the tree-room for two days.

When the lantern ran out of fuel the morning after the creature had left, Axel crawled to the entrance to part the sail a little way and allow natural light to enter. The night that bridged the two days was long and tense, Axel lying on his back, staring up into the darkness, wondering if the monster had abandoned him. Perhaps it had lost interest. Perhaps its cousins had discovered it was keeping him, as it seemed to fear. Perhaps it had forgotten him – who knew how long the memories of Sirens might be?

It had told him not to attempt to leave while it was gone, but how long was he expected to wait? He had finished his last piece of fruit several hours ago, and his water the day prior. If Roxas did not return soon, he would be forced to venture out on his own, even with his ankle in its bad condition.

After some thought, he had decided to forgo wearing a shirt, and used it and the belt to bind his lower leg in the hopes that the pressure might alleviate the swelling and support the ankle better as it healed. He had spent the last two days keeping it propped on the pillow the creature had brought him, feeble and lacking in stuffing though it was, and was sure that some improvement could be seen. Even so, the bruising remained deep, and when he moved it, pain still sprang up his leg. He would need to wait a while more before he could think of hobbling around. Three days was not enough for such a bad sprain to mend.

It was late on the second day, heading towards night, that Axel heard, at long last, the sound of approaching footsteps. For once, he was glad at the sound, relieved even, for it meant that Roxas had not left him to die. There would be more supplies, and the creature could fetch him more water – gods, but he was thirsty. He sat up to greet the Siren, wondering a little at this rush of anticipation he felt at the creature’s coming, but eager, all the same, to see Roxas’ face again. He had not realised until just now how much he had come to depend on the compassion of a monster, even if he still wasn’t precisely sure where it came from, or why. 

The steps came closer, crashing through the underbrush, and, as usual, paused for a short while in front of the alcove’s entrance, as if checking for spying eyes. Then the sail was thrust aside, and Axel realised with a thrill of pure terror that whatever luck he had boasted to this moment had completely run dry.

“You!”The monster at the entrance was not Roxas, but another of its kind, a half-naked, feathered female with slicked-back blonde hair and hunger in its face that bordered on the demented. Where Roxas appeared almost beautiful, this creature looked only savage. “I have been _searching_ for you! I _smelled_ you on the air!” The monster lunged for Axel, who scrambled back but could not move quickly enough to escape its clutches. _“I have hungered for you!”_ the beast screeched, as Axel yelled in fright and hammered at it with his fists. His struggles seemed to annoy it, for it gave him a violent shake, before switching abruptly to its angelic voice, Axel able to feel only a moment’s horror before the spell clamped over him. _“Dearest one,”_ the monster trilled, its claws tight around his shoulders, _“won’t you come with me? We will find somewhere safe and secluded, and take our time with tasting you. You would like that, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you like to taste you, just as much as I would?”_

Axel all but melted in its grasp. “Oh, yes,” he breathed, reaching for the delightful creature’s soft feathers, running his hands through them in awe. “Oh, please, take me away with you,” he begged.

 _“Good mortal,”_ the creature purred, then bared its teeth, running its tongue along the points. _“But first, before we go, just a little sample, a little sample before we go…”_

Axel’s head lolled back, baring his throat for the taking, every part of him singing for the moment that he might feel the angel’s bite upon his flesh. He was so glad, so glad he could provide for her, so grateful to be worthy of consideration. His every muscle tightened with rapturous anticipation as her hot breath descended upon his neck…

And then, with a snarl, she was gone, torn away as if by some terrible force, so swiftly she had left bloodied trails where her talons had gripped him. Axel flopped to the dirt, alone once again, blinking in confusion for all the time it took for the monster’s voice to change back to its terrible rasp somewhere outside of the alcove, and all at once he was quivering. His hands leapt up to clamp around his neck, feeling frantically for broken skin, finding a patch of wet heat and bringing it in front of his eyes. Was it blood? Was it _his_ blood?

…Oh, heaven help him, it was saliva. She had drooled upon him. He felt the meagre contents of his stomach revolt, and in an instant was choking it up, gasping and gagging. Meanwhile, outside of the alcove, he could hear a fearful howling and commotion, crashes and screams and snarls, at one point a roar that was nearly deafening… and then, at long last, silence.

The sun was setting, its dim light entering the alcove through the thrust-aside sail, Axel’s heavy breaths calming but his fear rising. What had just happened? Surely that had been Roxas who came in the nick of time and saved him, but – then what? Who had won such a fierce battle as the one he had just heard transpire?

…Had they both died?

He felt a clutch deep in his chest at the thought. Had Roxas…?

He gasped as a shadow suddenly filled the alcove’s entryway. It stood in place, swaying for a moment, and took a staggering step in Axel’s direction. Before he could fearfully back away, the creature sank to its knees, then fell forward, slamming face-down in the dust. Wide-eyed, Axel watched it for a long minute, before mustering the courage to approach, crawling nearer until he was able to make out Roxas’ features in the gloom.

With trembling hands, he carefully tilted its head so that it was not inhaling dirt, and pushed the hair back from its eyes. Those same eyes fluttered halfway open at the touch, Roxas’ voice sounding strange as through bloodied lips, with missing teeth, it asked, “Axel – are you safe?”

Axel nodded, with some awe.

“That’s… good. Larxene… is dead. You are safe. My cousin is…” It drew a rattling breath, through the blood that trickled down its throat. “The sail – draw the sail. Your scent… you must hide…” Its words fading, Roxas lost consciousness.

In a state of distress, Axel stared down at the Siren’s slack features. Then, slowly, he went to the alcove entrance. Using the twisted trees to pull himself upright, for the first time in days, Axel found his feet. His left ankle was painful, but – he had little choice, as far as he could tell. He limped heavily out into the falling dusk. It was the first time he had seen the sky since the night the ship had driven into the rocks. The storm clouds that had lashed the coast were long gone, a sky filled with pinks, purples, and a deep, encroaching blackened-blue. There were already stars out, winking at him from a distance. But though the sight up above was pretty, the air itself was filled with the smell of blood.

He found the corpse of Larxene a short distance away, and slowly, resolutely, dragged her into the bushes. He covered her with dirt, then several large branches and some dead foliage. If theirs was a species that located things by scent, then Axel wanted to hide hers before hiding his own. The longer it took for any of the other Sirens to find them, the better.

His leg weak now, the pain constant, he hobbled back to the alcove. Pushing aside the sail, he looked in and saw that Roxas hadn’t moved. In the last vestiges of twilight, Axel saw that fistfuls of feathers had been torn from around his face and his back, with deep claw marks marring his flesh. Larxene had savaged him – yet Roxas had won. Of the two of them, it was the true monster that lay dead.

What, then, did that make Roxas?

Without knowing the answer, Axel entered the alcove, tugged the sail into position so that no hint of light could spill through, and went to where Roxas lay in the darkness. Lowering himself painfully to the ground, he released a deep breath once he was finally seated again. Unable to drag Roxas from where he lay, instead Axel shifted the contents of the alcove around, placing the pillow underneath the Siren’s bloodied head. He discovered the sack that Roxas used to carry supplies, dropped by the entrance, evidently tossed aside when he had arrived and found Larxene atop Axel.

It occurred to him that this was the first time he was voluntarily thinking of Roxas as a ‘he’ rather than ‘it’. The difference of it echoed in his mind.

Untying the sack, he found more water, more fruit, something that smelled suspiciously like alcohol and, astonishingly, ship rations in a watertight case.  He had actually found some. Roxas had tracked them down, just like he’d said he would. Was _that_ why he had taken so long to return?

Axel’s hands briefly quivered, before he set aside the rations case and carried the water to where Roxas lay senseless. Uncapping the water canteen, he took a long swallow, then trickled some of the precious liquid across the gashes in Roxas’ flesh, washing away the blood and the dirt and simply hoping that Siren claws contained no terrible poison that may even now claim Roxas away. He gulped down the last of the water, and in the darkness lay down beside the injured creature, wanting to be close at hand if something went wrong. Through the gloom, he studied what he could of the feathered being’s profile, before the exhaustion of all that had happened drank him in, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

.o.O.o.

“I told you to keep the sail shut,” Roxas flatly admonished.

The two had slumbered side-by-side until morning, worn out from their efforts, at which point Roxas had risen and gone to inspect the site where Axel had unceremoniously buried his cousin. Upon his return, he had peeled several of the blue fruits and slapped the salty skins against the gashes marring his flesh, though they already appeared to Axel to be closing.

“Your scent drew her here. I could smell it, too, on the wind. This place has become a trap for it, and you wilfully let it out.”

“I needed sunlight,” Axel muttered, sitting opposite him, one knee drawn up, his hand fixed on the section of neck that Larxene had slobbered on. It made him shiver to think of how near he had come to happily having his throat torn out. “You left me for so long,” he added, voice strengthening with an accusing tone.

Roxas regarded him with narrowed eyes, but eventually glanced away. “I suppose that is true.” As he turned his head, Axel felt a stab of guilt at the sight of clumps of feathers missing from the side of his face.

“…Will they – regrow?” he asked regretfully, and when Roxas looked at him questioningly, tapped the side of his own face. Roxas lifted a hand to touch the area, noticing, with mild surprise, that they were missing.

“Ah… Yes. They will. In time.”

Axel hesitated, then asked, “Can I – touch them?”

Roxas blinked, seeming to have a moment’s struggle registering his words. “My…?”

“The feathers.” When Roxas uncertainly nodded, Axel shifted closer. He still remembered what Larxene’s felt like, and though the memory gave him shivers, he couldn’t deny that their softness had been rather remarkable. He raised a hand, and, when Roxas didn’t seem about to object, carefully brushed his fingers through the feathers that remained. “Ah…” A low exclamation left his lips. “They are silkier even than hers were…”

Roxas’ expression, curiously wooden, darkened slightly. At the sight of Axel’s hand once again on his throat, the Siren inclined his head towards it and asked, “Why is that you do that? Is there an injury?”

Axel faltered, giving the area a rub, as if that might dispel the lingering memory of a wicked tongue and razor-sharp teeth that longed to rip into him. “No, this, it’s just – it’s where she…”

Concern touched Roxas’ features. “What? Did my cousin bite you, after all?”

“Not exactly. She… salivated on me.” Axel made a wry face, as if to chastise his own foolishness – but to his alarm, Roxas’ expression was undergoing a rapid change, growing thunderous.

“She…” He clicked his tongue sharply, pupils dilating as his brows drew low. “I hate that she touched you.” His voice, already rough, developed a guttural depth. “She _claimed_ you as her own. I cannot abide it.”

“Roxas, relax.” Axel gave an anxious laugh. “She’s dead, remember? She hasn’t got a claim on anything anymore.”

The creature’s heated gaze, however, burned into his neck, where he was covering it. “…Show it to me. Show me, _now.”_

Startled, Axel complied, removing his hand hurriedly to show the blank area. “See? Nothing there. She didn’t mark me or anything, she only –” He cut himself off with a gasp as Roxas seized his shoulders and yanked him close, exhaling a hot breath onto the site. “R-Roxas?” Axel’s voice had gone high, tight with fear – or was it something else? The way that Roxas had looked at him, and the way that he gripped him now, it wasn’t like a monster with a meal; it was… possessive. Axel’s heart was beating fast, but it didn’t seem to be terror fuelling it.

Glaring at the furrows scratched into Axel’s shoulders, Roxas let out a low hiss. “She marked you…” He drew a breath between his teeth. “I must purify you of her sordid presence.”

Axel opened his mouth to argue further, then bit down sharply on the words as Roxas dragged his open mouth across Axel’s shoulder, the faintest scratch of the tips of his teeth causing him to shudder. For once, however, it was not an expression of horror or disgust – if anything, he found the sensation strangely thrilling. It made him hitch a breath, his hands rising to clutch at Roxas, not to push him away but to – to – he didn’t even know what. His mind was reeling. He just – needed to hold on to something. “Roxas…”

“Don’t struggle,” Roxas growled into his ear, to which Axel shook his head.

“I’m not,” he choked. “I won’t.”

Had – had Roxas used his voice upon him at some point? He couldn’t recall. He wasn’t sure. He – he couldn’t think. The Siren’s mouth moved along his shoulder, moving down to his collarbone for his tongue to dip briefly into its crevice, Axel’s soft moan meeting the still air of the dark alcove. What… was this? What was happening?

“How dare she,” Roxas muttered, “how dare she touch you, how dare she _soil_ you.” His lips grazed their way up to Axel’s throat. “Was it here?” he asked, nuzzling the spot with his nose.

Axel shook his head, saying breathlessly, “Other side.”

Roxas shifted, seating himself atop Axel’s crossed legs, passing his mouth over the man’s Adam’s apple and to the other side of his neck. Axel moved his head obligingly, exposing his throat much as he had for Larxene, but with a sense of excitement that he had not experienced with that monster’s teeth near his flesh. With Larxene, he had been spellbound, eager to feed her, happy to do so – but this was something entirely different. He knew he wasn’t going to be eaten, he knew nothing was going to hurt, he knew that he was _safe_ with Roxas, knew it at long last, and so felt only wonder for what would come next.

“Here?” Roxas demanded, and Axel wordlessly nodded. He then groaned – loudly – as Roxas opened his jaw wide and pressed his teeth against his skin, not breaking through but marking, definitely marking, leaving indents, while he laved the site with his tongue and occasionally sucked. Axel writhed slowly, clinging to Roxas as the Siren – as he _claimed_ him. That was what this felt like. Axel was being _claimed,_ and the thought sent a thrill through him that had another whispering moan rising from his mouth.

Breaking off, breathing hard, Roxas asked, “Are you scared?”

Axel answered, voice low and strained, _“No.”_

This time, it was Roxas’ turn to grunt, and then, very carefully, he pressed their lips together. Axel felt his heart lurch, could feel the press of his sharp teeth on the other side, but… but it didn’t matter. He returned the kiss, a clumsy, tender joining, pushing his hands through the soft, tickling feathers lining Roxas’ face and up into his hair. It was softer even than his feathers. Roxas gave a short gasp at the feel of the fingers in his hair, their mouths parting, hot breaths exchanged as they stared into one another’s eyes, struck dumb by the powerful energy between them.

Slowly, Roxas subsided, pressing his cheek against Axel’s, where the man could hear his harsh breaths directly against his ear. “…I thought I was too late,” the creature said, after some minutes had passed. “I saw her at your throat, and… I thought…” He squeezed Axel carefully in his arms.

Axel closed his eyes. “What happens now?” he softly asked.

Drawing a deeper breath, the thump of his heart against Axel’s chest starting to calm, Roxas pushed himself away, extricating himself gently from the man’s grasp. Sitting back on his heels, he considered the question, a troubled look gradually dominating his face. “I – cannot go back. My cousins will scent Larxene’s blood on me, and see that I have been fighting. When she doesn’t come back, they will know that I dispatched her.”

 Uneasily, Axel asked, “Can’t you say that she started it?”

Roxas shook his head, before lowering it. “We do not – attack our own,” he said, in almost a mutter. “It is forbidden. To protect against – cannibalism, the law was made.”

“You eat _each other?”_ Axel was momentarily perplexed.

“Not in a very long time. It is too easy for a Siren to enter a blood frenzy, and devour its foe.”

Axel was sickened. “But – you didn’t,” he pointed out, feeling nauseated. “I saw the body. You didn’t eat her.”

“I told you,” Roxas answered, turning his head away, “I do not eat the living. It is my own law, one I impose upon myself. A living creature is… sacred.” After a beat, he looked at Axel. “Therefore… to me… _you_ are sacred.” He swallowed, Axel feeling a touch flustered at the admission, however much it might apply to anyone sitting where he was.

“I – I see.”

“I understand, though,” the creature quietly went on, “that you view me as merely a monster. I do. When I looked at Larxene and saw the wicked lust on her face, I think I understood more than ever.” He frowned. “But… I cannot go back. I have nowhere, now. My cousins would execute me for my crime.”

Axel eyed him, then carefully reached a hand out. He touched it lightly upon Roxas’ knee. “I… don’t think of you as a monster. Not any longer. Like you, I saw the true monster in Larxene. You… are not like her.”

“No,” Roxas agreed, “I swear I am not.”

“Then… can’t you come with me?” Axel wasn’t thinking straight, he knew he wasn’t thinking straight, proposing to take a being like Roxas from this island and – what? To elsewhere in the world? Where on the planet could he possibly take him where he would not be viewed as an abomination?

But still, he couldn’t just leave him here to die.

Roxas seemed to share his misgivings. “I? In the mortal world?” He hesitated, then asked, “With you?”

Axel swallowed, then nodded. “I suppose it would be, wouldn’t it? If you were to leave… it would be with me. I certainly would not – abandon you. Not here, and not out there, either. So, yes: with me.”

Looking tempted, Roxas nevertheless had to point out, “I couldn’t possibly pass for mortal.”

Axel thought, then suggested, “Well, what if you were simply – reclusive? We could find some quiet island somewhere… and say that you are sickly… and cover your hands with gloves, and your mouth with a mask, and shave your feathers each morning…” He trailed off at the shocked look on Roxas’ face, and grimaced. “I suppose you wouldn’t like that – denying what the gods made you.”

“You would go to such lengths to save me,” Roxas muttered, appearing almost – tormented by this. He lowered his head, and for a long minute didn’t speak. Then, at length, he whispered, “I lied.” Axel blinked, apprehensive at the shame that flickered across the Siren’s face. “I am sorry. I didn’t save you because Larxene wanted you. I didn’t know that she wanted you until I intercepted her outside the cave you woke up in. I just…” He darted a nervous glance up at Axel. “When I saw you through the spyglass…” He lowered his face even further. “I can hardly explain it myself. When I say to you that life is sacred… that _you_ are sacred…” He closed his eyes, shook his head faintly. “When I first saw you aboard that ship, all I could think was that… you were surely the most sacred of all. I had – to save you. I couldn’t let them eat you. I…” He lifted his face, met Axel’s gaze, raising a hand to grasp against his chest. “In here. My heart told me that I couldn’t let you die.” As if waiting for Axel’s anger, he hunched into himself. “That is why I chose to save you over any of the others.” He sighed softly. “To me, being with you is more important than anything. I chose you over my own cousin. I killed her for touching you.”

Stunned, Axel took a while to process this. Then, after a long period of silence, he hoarsely asked, “You – love me?”

Roxas’ expression turned blank. “I don’t know what that is.”

An island of monsters, who knew not the meaning of love… Sirens, who lured men to their deaths to feed on them, and then wait for the next ship to come along, sworn not to fight each other for fear that they would devour their own…

And then there was Roxas.

Axel lifted a hand, pressing it against his own chest, where Roxas had done the same with his. “This, in here. When you feel that… you want to be with me?”

Roxas nodded quickly. Axel thought for a moment, then shifted back, crawling to where the contents of the sack had been laid out and took from among them a can of lantern oil. He found the lantern and refilled it, then with one of the matches Roxas had salvaged from ships long past, lit the wick. The flame’s light filled the alcove, which, Axel saw, was a mess after everything that had happened. When he looked at Roxas, he saw the full extent of the sorry state he was in. The gashes Larxene had made in him were all too evident, ugly red lines that criss-crossed his neck and body. His feathers were patchier than Axel had realised, and a chunk had been torn from one ear. But his eyes… were clear. And his expression was earnest. This was not a monster.

Slowly, Axel returned to where he sat, settling… close. Immediately, he noticed Roxas’ posture stiffen at the proximity. The man took hold of his hands, and smoothed them onto his thighs. Roxas’ jaw tightened. His hands were strange, and unnatural. His teeth were frightening, and obviously made for tearing flesh. But – he was gentle. And the colour of his eyes was pretty, and his feathers were soft. Axel almost mourned the idea of having to shave them. Above all, though he was neither human nor monster, Roxas was a being with a soul, and a heart.

Axel… would not leave him here.

“I am here alive because of you,” he said, lifting a hand to cup Roxas’ face, and in an echo of Axel’s behaviour when under the power of his voice, Roxas shut his eyes and turned into his touch. It made Axel’s mouth dry to think that how he felt while under a spell was how Roxas felt ordinarily. “It seems… only right… that you should continue to live because of me,” he managed to continue. He stroked Roxas’ cheek with his thumb. “When my leg is healed… come with me. I’ll make sure you don’t go hungry. I will… protect you from my kind, just as you did for me.” He touched their foreheads together. “Let me be the one to rescue you, Roxas.”

When Roxas smiled, even with his pointed teeth, he truly looked nearly divine. A pure happiness radiated from him, and when he spoke, Axel was sure it was entirely unintentional that his voice had adopted some of the warmth it contained when he exercised its power. The rough rasp was nowhere to be heard as he said, “I would like that, very much.”

.o.O.o.

It took four more days for Axel’s ankle to heal enough for the two of them to move from the alcove of the trees. In that time, Roxas collected supplies from the surrounding forest, and at Axel’s direction salvaged things from the scattered ruins of ships around the island. In the end, they had maps, two separate compasses, enough rations for several weeks, and a cache of the salty-sweet fruits to make the water stretch. Roxas assured him that the salt of them acted as a preservative, so they wouldn’t just be hauling a boatload of rotted vegetation.

The boat in question was one that Roxas himself had restored, a skiff with a repurposed sail, taken from the wreckage of a ship that had wrecked against the island. With the two of them and all the supplies, it sat low in the water, but was a worthy vessel that Axel would have no problem piloting in open water. Where the rocks might have been a problem for anyone on their own, Roxas’ intimate knowledge of the island’s coast, and his extraordinary swimming ability, like that of a mermaid, allowed him to guide the boat from the treacherous area.

Once they hit the open water, Axel helped to pull him aboard, the pair exchanging shining looks. They had managed it: they were escaping. Roxas looked different somehow, out in the sunshine, aboard the boat – more human, almost. Axel had made him wear extra clothing, a shirt and hat, so as to protect his delicate skin from the harshness of the sun, the end result making him look less like a creature and more like a young man.

The only hitch came when, evidently spotting the skiff from a lookout, Axel was struck by the singing of Sirens. Their voices drifted eerily from the cliffs, reaching into him and turning his head, a dreadful, adoring longing building in him – only for Roxas to throw his arms around him, and start a song of his own, soft but close, cutting through the distant warble of his cousins, calming Axel’s rising agitation. His chest spread with warmth, Roxas continuing his song until they were free of the Sirens’ influence.

As Roxas’ voice faded, the sounds of the sea taking over, he drew back to check Axel’s expression, as if anxious that he might dislike having been manipulated. But he found a tender smile on the man’s face, Axel’s only comment being, “I like it when you sing to me.”

The skiff sailed on.

Following the maps that Roxas had taken, the two made their way towards a tiny islet by a larger bay town, the journey taking three weeks, during which time they turned brown and some of the scaling left Roxas’ hands. His pupils, too, seemed less like a cat’s, more like a human’s, whether because of all the sunlight or some effect of having left the island behind, neither of them knew. His voice continued to hold its power, and with it he was even able to sometimes calm the sea, keeping the skiff from being damaged when the weather turned inclement.

It was as the supplies were beginning to dwindle for Axel, and Roxas, who hadn’t fed since the island, was growing weaker by the day, that they found the islet. It was a white-sand paradise, with tall palm trees containing star-shaped fruits. Once they had found fresh water to slake their thirst, and Axel had eaten his fill of the star-shaped fruit, he crossed to the mainland, leaving Roxas inside an old, hidden cave to rest. The maps had been accurate – the bay town still existed, and Axel was able to sell some odds and ends they had brought from the island and buy fresh meat. This he took back to the islet to Roxas, who at last began to regain some strength.

From there, the two men settled on the islet, building a home for themselves, Axel performing odd jobs where he could, occasionally working at the docks. They gained a reputation on the mainland as curious foreigners, one of whom appeared to be ill, judging by the mask he always wore and the gloves on his hands. The people of the bay town were friendly, though, and made no issue of the two strange men suddenly occupying the tiny spit of land just off their coast.

And here it was that they gladly spent the rest of their days: a man and his angelic beast.

 


End file.
